“Corrections officers aren’t leaving their jobs because they’re mad about taking a few college credits ten years ago. They’re leaving because they don’t get paid enough,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “The department is shoveling money into a traveling circus that jumps from job fair to job fair, basically begging people to become corrections officers. What they don’t tell you is 6 out of 10 officers leave just a few months into the job once they realize how little they’re paid to work in a warzone waiting to explode and have no solid family life. MDOC needs to fund the things that matter, like increased pay and benefits. We’ll never fix this crisis if we don’t keep the well-trained, hardworking staff already doing the job.”

“Raising wages is key to solving the staffing shortage,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “In Menominee County, we saw that the higher wages helped bring in more corrections officers and retain the officers we had. It’s cheaper too, since retention helps reduce the extraordinary amount of training costs and reducing the amount of mandatory overtime saves money and provides officers with better work-life balance. In today’s economy, prospective employees are attracted by wages, more so than any part of a benefits package. This plan worked for Menominee County, and it can work on a larger scale. As head of MDOC, Director Washington has been unable to solve the disaster within her department. If she can’t find the answers, then the governor needs to find someone who can.”